Day 2, Bees and Ballin'!

Day 2,
The group re-energized after a night of sleep on the surprisingly comfortable beds (yes they did have sheets Mom), we woke up as early as 5:30 and as late as 8. On our own for making breakfast we slowly regrouped and figured out the plan for the day with the long-term volunteers, then headed out in the van with Alonzo. Not to make any of the mothers out there nervous, but on our very first day the van died and we had to push it off the road, our first adventure! We waited around the Purific Agua store for a replacement mini-van and truck to come and un-strand us. Driving the truck was Gabrielle, another worker for Los Ninos, who was very nice and willing to speak Spanish with the struggling Michael and Anna. Eventually we got to our first stop of the day, the Bee Project! This project is part of the nutrition program for children since it's hard for them to find honey in stores that has all of the original nutritional value. While six people went with Alonzo and Gabrielle to visit the bees first the rest stayed back with Tita, Raquel and the other workers to cut frames for the bee boxes and paint the lids. Danielle, Sue, Anna, and Jared did a stunning job painting while Graham and Michael satisfied their primal urge...using power tools! Finishing our work quickly we sat and talked and waited until Alonzo came to get us in the mini-van. Driving on the roads here is quite an experience, seeing as the posted speed limits lack the enforcement found in the USA. We arrived in an incredibly dusty place just in time to see our other half trooping towards us looking like a hazmat team in their bee suits. After the challenge of putting on the suits ourselves and the paranoia of having exposed skin we headed for the bee boxes. It is an incredible experience to see the massive swarms of bees on a single slat of wood and wax, and to be able to stand in the middle of a swarm without fear. It is also an experience to wear a bee suit in the weather of Mexico, need I say more? We met back at the center of the Bee Project for yet another delicious meal cooked by Tita (she does all the cooking, and it's amazing!). Leaving with bottles of honey, strawberry honey, and chocolate honey, we drove another 20 minutes or so to our next destination.
We were greeted by the two cutest little girls in the world, one wearing a sequin shirt that read, 'Sexed-Up'. I highly doubt they knew what it meant, and I apologize if this offends you but I'm just telling it how it is! This was a group of mostly older ladies involved in the nutrition program with Los Ninos that made flour tortillas, while others made bricks and tiles for roofs (I feel like that should be spelled 'rooves'). We introduced ourselves in spanish, then made a batch of tortillas using our incredible tortilla rolling skills. As is the tradition with this particular activity, we took on the local kids in a game of soccer. I would love to tell you that we stepped up and America conquered Mexico, alas it was not to be. After a sloppy first half everyone involved would like to forget the score was 5-0, them. In the second half Anna brought the thunder with an incredible goal that set our team in motion. Even with the second half rally the final score was 5-7, them. Our egos were severely bruised so the tortilla-ladies nurtured them with frozen mango popsicles covered in a sweet chili sauce. We learned a lot about their community and they showed us the bridge that was being built to replace the jumble of wood (literally) that made up the one in use now. During our farewell they sang us a wonderful and touching song, to which we responded with 'I'm A Little Teapot', with motions! Unfortunately I'm not kidding. Exhausted we made one more stop at the house of an amigo of Alonzo and another member of Los Ninos that did painting for the organization. We played ridiculous slap games, in which Graham conquered, and watched two little girls (not the ones mentioned before) do a dance and song routine for us. Finally we headed home, or what we're calling home for now, to wash off the dirt and grime from our day and eat some quesadillas. This was written while eating Nutella and chocolate-honey sandwiches made by Anna, who I am very grateful towards! Now it's time for my beauty sleep!

Stay Classy Iowa City!